Feeder apparatus



March 12, 1968 m. WATSON ETAL 3,372,923

FEEDER APPARATUS Filed Nov. 30, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 [Wen zar ma r? 144750 0A/A/IE J 3/4/1454 //v WM? y March 12, 1968 -J. P. WATSON ETAL3,372,923

FEEDER APPARATUS Filed Nov. 30, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet z A {fa my March 12,1968 J. P- WATSON ETAL FEEDER APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 50,1965 .mdii ke /v United States Patent Office 3,372,23 Patented Mar. 12,1968 3,372,923 FEEDER APPARATUS James P. Watson, Jupiter, and Onnie J.Shamblin, Lake Park, Fla., assignors to Radio Corporation of America, acorporation of Deiaware Filed Nov. 30, 1965, Ser. No. 510,519 8 Claims.(Cl. 271-23) ABSTRACT OF THE DIEQCLUSURE An apparatus for holding andfeeding sheets of material such as documents and cards by means of ahopper and oscillating and rotating rollers wherein one sheet isseparated from a stack of said sheets by a roller with a knife edgewhich causes the sheet to bow outwardly and away from the stack.

This invention relates to feeder apparatus and, in partlcular, toapparatus for feeding sheet material out of an input hopper.

In the usual type of feeder apparatus which employs a picker mechanism,a stack of sheet material, e.g., documents or cards, etc., is loadedinto a hopper and biased toward one end thereof. A picker mechanism islocated at that one end of the hopper, near a side thereof, and isoperative to engage an edge of the endmost sheet and push that sheet outof the hopper through an openlng, or throat, at the opposite side of thehopper.

Due to the biasing of the stack of sheets, there are large frictionalforces between the faces of adjacent sheets. These frictional forcesoften result in undesirable double feeding of sheets, i.e., feeding oftwo sheets at the same time. When the sheets are punched record cards,double feeding also can result from the interlocking of cards, whicharises when the edges of the punched holes in two adjacent cards engageone another. Double feeding can be prevented by adjusting the size ofthe throat opening to be greater than the thickness of one sheet butless than the combined thickness of two sheets. However, although suchan arrangement prevents double feeding of sheets, it often gives rise tojamming at the throat, which occurs when two or more documents reach thethroat at the same time.

It is one object of the present invention to provide an improved pickertype feed apparatus in which double feeding does not occur.

It is another object of his invention to provide an improved picker typefeed apparatus which does not require a throat for outgoing sheets,whereby the jamming of sheets is avoided.

It is still another object of this invention to provide an improved feedmechanism in which a sheet is separated from the stack prior to beingfed out of the hopper.

In apparatus embodying the invention, the hopper is open at one endthereof parallel to the faces of the stacked sheets. The hopper hasfirst and second side members which are substantially normal to the openend of the hopper and which are disposed adjacent first and secondopposite edges, respectively, of the stacked sheets. A first roller anda stop member extend across the open end of the hopper at locationsadjacent the first and second side members, respectively, with theendmost sheet resting against the first roller and the stop member. Theroller has a sheet picker thereon for engaging the first edge of theendmost sheetv As the roller is turned, the first edge of the endmostsheet is driven toward the second, opposite edge thereof, causing thesheet to bow outwardly through the open end of the hopper and peel awayfrom the other stacked sheets.

In the accompanying drawings, like reference characters denote likecomponents, and:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a portion of a first apparatus embodying theinvention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged plan view of one form of roller-pickermechanism;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged plan view of another form of roller-pickermechanism;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of a roller support and drive mechanism;

FIGURE 5 is a view in front elevation of the transport roller;

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of another apparatus embodying the invention;

FIGURE 7 is a view in left side elevation of a portion of a modifiedroller-picker mechanism and side member; and

FIGURE 8 is a plan view in cross section, of the modified roller-pickermechanism, taken along the line 88 of FIGURE 7.

Although the present invention has application in systems for feedingvarious types of sheet material, it has special advantages when used tofeed perforated record cards of the type commonly used in businessmachines. For this reason, the invention will be described hereinafterin connection with the feeding of punched record cards. It should beunderstood, however, that such description is not to be taken as alimitation of the invention.

In the apparatus of FIGURE 1, a hopper 10 has first and second sidemembers 12, 14 respectively, which are shown in an upright positionadjacent first and second opposite edges of a stack of cards 16. Thehopper 10 is open at the front thereof, in a plane parallel to the facesof the stacked cards. The cards are loaded into the hopper at the backthereof and may rest on a bottom plate (not shown). The stack of cardsis biased toward the front of the hopper, as by means of a spring biasedplate 20, or by gravity due to a slight inclination of the hopper, e.g.about 10 from the horizontal, or by a combination of gravity and springbiasing.

An elongated stop member 22, adjacent second side member 14, extendsacross the open end of the hopper from the top thereof to the bottom. Inthe embodiment of FIGURE 1, the stop member 22 is shown as a lip orflange projecting from the front of second side member 14. A pickerroller 24 is located at the opposite side of the hopper, adjacent firstside member 12, and extends across the open end from the stop to thebottom of the hopper. Due to the biasing of the stack of cards 16, thefront or endmost, card rests against the stop member 22 and the pickerroller 24. Picker roller 24 is driven by a source representedschematically by a box 26.

A transport roller 28 has its axis parallel to the axis of the pickerroller 24. The axis of picker roller 24, in turn, preferably lies in thesame plane as the inner wall of the first side member 12. Transportroller 28, which may be driven at constant speed from a source 30, suchas a synchronous motor, is spaced close to the picker roller 24, beingseparated therefrom a distance less than the thickness of a record card.As will be described hereinafter in connection with the operation of theapparatus, the space between rollers 24 and 28 forms a nip into which arecord card is fed from the hopper.

One form of picker roller that may be used in practicing the inventionis illustrated in enlarged view in FIGURE 2. The picker rollerpreferably extends, in an axial direction, from the top to the bottom ofthe hopper, spanning the stack of record cards in the verticaldirection. A picker knife edge 40 is formed in the periphery of theroller by grinding a flat 36 in the circumference 3'8 thereof. The knifeedge 40 spans the stack of cards, and projects above the fiat 36 by anamount which is less than the thickness of the thinnest card to betransported. Thus, the picker knife edge 40 engages the righthand of theendmost card 16 in the stack, but never projects beyond the thickness ofthis card, whereby it does not engage the edges of two cards at the sametime. In the rest, or reference, position of the picker roller, theknife edge 40 is either aligned with, or slightly to the right of, theplane of the inner wall of first side member 12 (FIG- URE 1). The flat36 on the roller then is substantially parallel to the front face of theleading card whereby the righthand end portion of the card 16 restsagainst the flat 36.

The surface of the picker roller is polished or coated to produce aminimum of friction between it and the successive cards as the recordcards slide across it. The surface of transport roller 28 (FIGURE 1), onthe otherhand, has a relatively high coefficient of friction between itand the cards. Preferably, transport roller 28 has a resilient, highfriction coating, such as rubber. Furthermore, transport roller 28preferably is circumferentially grooved so as not to contact those areasof a card which are or may be punched. Thus, as illustrated in frontelevation in FIGURE 5, the transport roller 28 is mounted on a shaft 41and may comprise a plurality of rubber disks 42 which are separated orspaced along shaft 41 by spacers 44. The axial dimension of a spacer 44is equal approximately to the height of a perforation 46 in the recordcard, and the spacers are aligned with the rows of perforations. Therubber disks 42. engage the record card 16 in the land areas betweenpunched rOWs. Alternatively, the entire surface of the transport roller28 could be rubber with grooves 44 cut therein.

When the picker roller has the form illustrated in FIG- URE 2, the drivemeans 26 preferably is of a type which oscillates the picker roller 24rather than driving it through one or more complete revolutions. Thereason for this will become apparent as the discussion proceeds. Anarrangement for oscillating the picker roller is illustrated in FIGURE4. In FIGURE 4, the upper end of the shaft 34 of the picker rollerprojects through an aperture in a supporting plate member 50. A piniongear 52 is mounted on the end of the shaft 34. Mounted on plate 50 is asolenoid 54 having a plunger 56. A spring 58 encircles the plunger tobias the plunger toward the right, as viewed in the drawing, when thesolenoid is in the deenergized condition. Attached at the free end ofthe plunger 56 is a rack 60 which has teeth spaced to mate with theteeth of the pinion gear 52. A grooved wheel 64 is rotatably mounted onplate 50 to captivate the smooth end of the rack 60 to insure positiveengagement between the rack and pinion.

Plate t also may serve as a support for the transport roller 28(FIGURE 1) and, to this end, the shaft 41 of the transport roller isshown as projecting through plate member 59 and riding in a bearing 66therein. Plate member 5i may be bolted or otherwise clamped at itsopposite ends to the side members 12 and 14, at the top of the hopper. Asimilar plate may be clamped to the side members 12 and 14 at the bottomof the hopper to support the picker roller and transport roller shaftsat their other ends.

When the solenoid 54 is in the de-energized state, the picker roller 24has the position indicated in dashed lines in FIGURE 4. In particular,and as mentioned previously, the picker knife edge lies substantially inthe plane of the inner wall of first side member 12. (FIGURE 1), orslightly clockwise thereof. When an energizing signal is applied acrossthe leads 68 of the solenoid, the plunger 56 is attracted toward theleft into the solenoid. The rack 60, in turn, translates to the left andturns the pinion gear 52 in the counterclockwise direction, as indicatedby the arrow 70 (FIGURE 4). The pinion gear is fixedly attached to theshaft 34 of the picker roller, whereby the picker roller also is turnedin a counterclockwise direction when the solenoid becomes energized.Upon de-energization of the solenoid, the compression spring 58 forcesthe plunger 56 and the rack 60 toward the right, the rack, in turn,turning the pinion gear 52 and picker roller 24 in a clockwisedirection. A stop member or members 74 set the limit of travel of therack 60 when the solenoid becomes tie-energized. The length of theplunger 56 is chosen to provide a desired angular rotation of the pickerroller.

With the aforementioned features of the system in mind, consider now theoperation of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1. As the picker roller 24 isturned in a counterclockwise direction, the picker knife edge drives therighthand edge of the endmost card to the left. The lefthand edge ofthat card abuts the second side member 14 of the hopper, whereby thecard is compressed endwise, causing the card to bow. The bowing of thecard must be in an outward direction through the open end of the hopper,since the biasing of the stack of cards prevents inward bowing. As thepicker roller 24 continues to turn in a counterclockwise direction, theendmost card is peeled away from the stack of cards in the hopper by thepicker knife edge. The righthand end of the next document in the stackthen moves forward into contact with the circumferential surface of thepicker roller. However, this card does not become fed out of the hopper.(It will be recalled that the surface of the picker roller is select edto have a very low coefficient of friction.)

When the picker knife edge of the roller 24 has been advancedapproximately from the rest or reference position, the endmost card hasattained a maximum bow, and has the position indicated by the curvedphantom line 74. The righthand end of that card is still engaged by thepicker knife edge when the card has this position. The picker roller 24continues to rotate in a counterclockwise direction. When the pickerknife edge has advanced to a point approximately counterclockwise fromthe reference position, the angle between the flat 36 (FIG URE 2) andthe righthand edge of the card has dimin ished to such a point that theendwise spring of the compressed card overcomes the friction between theright hand end of the card and the flat 36, all-owing the righthand endof the card to snap forward (to the right) into the nip between thepicker roller 24 and the transport roller 23. At the time the card endleaves the flat 36 and enters the nip aforementioned, transport roller28 drives the card toward the right and tensions the card, as shown bythe phantom line 76. Further rotation of the transport roller 28withdraws the lefthand edge of the card from the stop member 22 anddrives the card to the right to other apparatus (not shown).

The direction of rotation of the picker roller then is reversed, and thepicker roller is returned to the reference position aforementioned. Therighthand end of the next document in the stack then moves forwardagainst the flat 36 into position to be engaged by the picker knifeedge. The reverse rotation of the picker roller does not afiect themovement of record card being driven by the transport roller 28 becauseof the relatively high coefficient of friction of the transport rollerand the relatively low coeflicient of friction in the picker roller. Inessence, the card being transported is able to slide across the smoothsurface of the picker roller.

As an alternative to the above-described method of operation, the pickerroller 24 could be rotated through a complete revolution rather thanbeing oscillated. This method of operation is inherently slower,however, since it is necessary to slow or stop the picker roller as thepicker knife edge approaches the reference position to allow the nextcard to move against the fiat surface 36 (FIGURE 2). It should bementioned that, when the oscillatory method is employed, the distancebetween the front edge of first slide member 12 and the periphery of;

the picker roller 24 should be less than the thickness of a record card.This will assure that the front card in the hopper cannot leave thehopper through the space between side member 12 and the picker roller asthe picker roller is being rotated clockwise to its reference position.

Continuous rotation of the picker roller in a clockwise direction may beemployed when the picker roller has the form illustrated in FIGURE 3. Asshown there, the picker roller has a first circumferential portion ofradius r which extends through an angle of approximately 310. Theremaining circumferential portion has a radius r which is greater than rThe picker knife edge 80 is formed by an abrupt discontinuity at onejunction between the -circumferential portions of diflferent radii. Thedifference between radii 1' and r is less than the thickness of a recordcard, whereby the knife edge 80 cannot engage the edge of two cards atthe same time. This knife edge extends the length of the picker roller,across the face of a record card.

When this picker roller is employed in the FIGURE 1 system, theoperation is substantially the same as that described previously for thepicker roller of FIGURE 2. The main difference is that the picker rollerof FIGURE 3 can be rotated continuously in a counterclockwise direction.This type of operation is possible because the circumferential portionof radius r extends over an angle of only about 50. Thus, as one card isbeing fed out of the hopper, the next card can immediately move forwardinto contact with the circumferential portion of radius r and be inproper position to be engaged by the picker knife edge 80 as it arrivesat the reference position.

An embodiment of another apparatus for practicing the invention isillustrated in plan view in FIGURE 6. This apparatus differs from theapparatus of FIGURE 1 in two respects. First, the stop member at thelefthand edge of the stack has the form of a picker roller rather thanthe fixed member shown in FIGURE 1. This picker roller 84 is similar tothe picker roller 24, except that its picker knife edge is cut in theopposite direction so as to engage the endmost card at the lefthand edgeand drive it toward the right. Secondly, the transport roller 28 can beof larger diameter than that shown in FIGURE 1, and can be relocated ina more counterclockwise direction relative to the picker roller 24,whereby there is less possibility of interference between the transportroller 28 and the endmost card when in its state of maximum bow.

In the operation of the FIGURE 6 system the righthand edge of theendmost card in the hopper is engaged by the picker knife edge of thepicker roller 24 and the lefthand edge of the endmost card is engaged bythe picker knife edge of the picker roller 84. During the first portionof the feeding cycle, picker roller member 84 is held in a stationaryposition, thereby fixing the position of the lefthand edge of theendmost card. Picker roller 24 is turned in a counterclockwise directionby the drive means 26, causing the card to bow. The card reaches amaximum bow, as illustrated by the curved phantom line 86, When thepicker knife edge has been rotated through an angle of appnoximately 90.As the picker roller 24 continues to rotate, the endwise spring of thecard overcomes the friction between the righthand edge of the card andthe flat adjacent the picker knife edge, whereby the righthand end ofthe card snaps toward the right toward the nip between picker roller 24and transport roller 28. The card then has the position shown by thephantom line 88, the righthand edge being just short of the nip.

At this stage in the operation, or slightly prior thereto, the otherpicker roller 84 is turned in a clockwise direction by the drive means90, thereby advancing the card to the right into the nip between thetransport roller 28 and the picker roller 24. The position of the cardafter picker roller 84 has been rotated clockwise approximately 90 isindicated by the phantom line 94. The righthand end of the card then isin position to be engaged by transport roller 28 and fed through the nipto other apparatus.

When two picker rollers 24 and 84 are employed, the transport roller 28could be eliminated in some applications. By rotating the rollers 24, 84concurrently in opposite directions, the endmost card would be flippedout of the hopper, for example, onto a vacuum belt. It will also beappreciated by those skilled in the art that two separate transportrollers could be employed, rotating in opposite directions, one adjacenteach picker roller. By rotating the picker rollers alternately, cardscould be fed alternately in opposite directions from the hopper toseparate receiving apparatuses.

A portion of a modified form of picker-roller mechanism and side member12 is shown in left side elevation in FIGURE 7. A view of thisarrangement in plan view, taken along the line 8-8 of FIGURE 7, isillustrated in FIGURE 8. As shown in these drawings, the picker rollermay be one having circumferential grooves 100. Each of the largecircumferential portions 102 of the picker roller may have a knife edge104 inserted radially therein, the projection of each knife edge beyondthe periphery of the members 102 being less than the thickness of arecord card.

The side member 12 is furcated or forked at its forward end to provide aseries of fingers which ride in the grooves 100. Thus, there is nopossibility that record cards 16 (FIGURE 8) can escape from the hopperbetween side member 12 and the picker roller mechanism. Additionally, aseparate lip or flange 108 projects from each of the fingers and forms astop surface for the righthand end of the stack of record cards. Thestop faces of these flanges 108 preferably are curved to agree with theare through which the picker knives 104 operate, whereby the area ofcontact between the picker knives and the card edge does not diminish asthe picker roller is rotated from the reference position (shown inFIGURE 8). One advantage of this arrangement is that, as one record cardis being fed out of the hopper by the picker knives 104, the next cardin the stack may move forward into contact with the stationary flanges108 rather than into contact with the circumferential portion of therotating picker roller.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination comprising:

a hopper for holding a stack of sheets of material to be fed, saidhopper being open at an end thereof which is parallel to the faces ofthe stacked sheets, and said hopper having first and second side memberswhich are substantially normal to the open end and which are disposedadjacent first and second opposite edges, respectively, of the stackedsheets;

a first roller and a stop member extending across the open end of saidhopper at locations adjacent the first and second side members,respectively, the endmost sheet at the open end of said hopper restingagainst the first roller and the stop member;

said first roller having a sheet picker knife edge formed by anelongated flat on the surface of said roller for engaging the first edgeof said endmost sheet; and

means for rotating said first roller in a first direction to cause saidknife edge to engage said first edge and drive said first edge of saidendmost sheet toward said second edge thereof, thereby to cause saidendmost sheet to bow outwardly through said open end and peel away fromthe other stacked sheets, and then in an opposite direction to returnthe roller to a position to receive the second sheet on its said flat.

2. The combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein the axis of said firstroller lies substantially in the same plane as the inner surface of saidfirst side member.

3. The combination as claimed in claim 1, including a second rollerspaced from said first roller by a distance less than the thickness of asaid sheet and having its axis parallel to the axis of said firstroller, said first roller, when rotated, conveying said first edge ofsaid endmost sheet into the nip between said first and second rollers,and means for rotating said second roller.

4. The combination as claimed in claim 3, wherein the surface of saidfirst roller has a relatively low coefiicient of friction between it andsaid sheets and the surface of said second roller has a relatively highcoefiicient of friction between it and said sheets, whereby said sheetscan slip along said first roller with ease but will be engaged moreforcefully by said second roller.

5. The combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein the spacing betweensaid first roller and said first side menaher and the spacing betweensaid stop member and said second side member, each measured in adirection normal to the open end, are less than the thickness of a saidsheet.

6. The combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said stop member is aroller having a sheet picker edge thereon.

7. The combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein the axis of said firstroller lies substantially in the same plane as the inner surface of saidfirst side member, and wherein the spacing between said first roller andsaid first side member and the spacing between said stop member and saidsecond side member, each measured in a direction normal to said openend, are less than the thickness of a said sheet.

8. The combination as claimed in claim 7, including a second rollerspaced from said first roller by a distance which is less than thethickness of a said sheet and having its axis parallel to the axis ofsaid first roller, said first roller, when rotated, conveying said firstedge of the endmost sheet into the nip between the first and secondroller, the first roller having a relatively low coefificient offriction between it and a said sheet and said second roller having arelatively high coefiicient of friction between it and a said sheet,whereby a said sheet can slip along said first roller with ease but willbe engaged more forcefully by said second roller.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 985,607 2/1911 Kramer 271-231,074,455 9/1913 Pejavo 27123 1,916,723 7/1933 Ferrar 27123 2,145,2991/1939 Elliott 271-23 2,817,517 12/1957 Wittkuhns et al. 271-23 ANDRESH. NIELSON, Primary Examiner.

